Politics of Latin America (PLS 444), Syllabus

CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA

Politics of Latin America

Dr. José M. Vadi

Fall 2008

Course Outline and Standards

Required Texts:
Harry E. Vanden and Gary Prevost, Politics of Latin America: The Power Game (3rd ed.)
Peter H. Smith, Democracy in Latin America: Political Change in Comparative Perspective

Materials on Reserve
Materials on reserve are indicated by an asterisk(*). These are available electronically and they are required reading. You will need to get a PIN number at the circulation desk in order to access the readings online. Reserve materials are available online at:

http://opac.library.csupomona.edu/search~S4?/pvadi/pvadi/1%2C1%2C3%2CE/frameset&FF=pvadi+jose&3%2C%2C3

Occasionally, you will be asked to view short video clips online at home (CNN, PBS ) for discussion during the next class. You will be asked to present a two paragraph review in the next class where you (1) cover the major issues presented and (2) present your assessment of the video.

Course Description:
It is not possible to study the politics of Latin America in isolation for, as a peripheral region in the international system, its political dramas are influenced deeply by the dominant world and regional power, the United States. This is more evident as the economies of Latin America are integrated into a global economy that constrains the choices available at the national level. Of course, there are critical internal structures and patterns of behavior that must be studied to understand the functioning of these systems and one ought not reduce the study of Latin America to the study of international relations. However, the dependent character of these systems highlights the blurred boundaries between the domestic political systems and the international system within which they function.

This course focuses on the critical role of functional groups and social forces such as the military, the Catholic Church, landowners, industrialists, and the marginal peasant-worker majorities. In this course, institutions such as political parties and elections are perceived as reflecting these functional groups and social forces in societies severely divided along class lines. We examine the meaning of democracy in contexts where majorities are politically and economically marginal. Why have highly literate and sophisticated countries, such as Argentina and Chile, experienced genocidal governments and continue to be governed through quasi-authoritarian means? Why was the Mexican one-party dominant government considered a democracy whereas the Cuban one-party government is considered at "totalitarian" state? How has economic globalization and the debt crisis affected Latin American countries and what was their impact on state capacity, state performance, and "democracy?" Using political economy as an analytical framework, we will analyze these issues examining specific countries to illustrate regional patterns.

Course Objectives:

To understand the evolution of Latin American political systems;
To understand the social and economic context within which Latin American political systems are located (including political culture, class, race, and urban and rural cleavages);
To examine political processes in specific countries focusing on their democratic content (or lack thereof);
To examine governmental policies as they affect citizen rights and social and economic equality;
To examine likely future political scenarios in Latin America based on projections from current political trends.

Grading Standards: Grades are based on performance in the following areas:

An in-class essay midterm examination (30 percent).
An in-class essay final examination (30 percent). In both the midterm and final, study questions will be provided from which the professor will select two questions for each exam.
A term paper consisting of an examination of a Latin American political system or an important issue (30 percent). The paper topic must be approved by the professor as well as any subsequent changes in paper topics.
Class participation (10 percent). This includes attendance, responding to questions in class, raising questions in class, and participating in class discussions.

Class Regulations:

Regular attendance to class is mandatory. More than two absences is considered poor attendance and will affect your final grade in the class by a letter grade (under class participation). Please arrange your work hours, childcare, and other duties in such a manner that you do not miss classes. Please refrain from bringing to class beepers, cell phones, and other items that distract the attention of the class. Plagiarism of any sort (e.g., copying a paper, purchasing a paper or paying someone to write your paper using the Internet, making extensive "word for word" use of sources without citation) is against university policy and will result in a grade of F grade in the paper and, depending upon the severity of the infraction, could result in an F grade for the course.

The intention is to teach the course as a lecture discussion class. There is a lot of material to cover and thus it behooves the student to avoid falling behind in the reading. It is impossible to have informed class discussion if students are not prepared for the class by keeping abreast of the reading. If the class fails to keep abreast of the reading, short quizzes will be instituted. The grades on these quizzes will be factored into each student's final grade.

Most students are respectful and conscientious. But under no circumstances will anyone be allowed to do work for other classes or play computer games in class. Nor will anyone be allowed to sleep in class (this will result in expulsion from the lecture and an absence will be recorded for the day). Please refrain from bringing active cell phones or beepers to class at any time (but especially during an exam). The class lasts 1:50 minutes with a 10 minute break. Those who do not return from the 10 minute break will be marked absent for the day.

There will be no make-ups for exams. The term paper is due on the last day of classes (prior to Final's Week). There will be no extensions for submitting the term paper as you should be working on that paper during the entire quarter. Papers submitted after the last class meeting prior to the final will receive a grade of F. You cannot get a passing grade in the class without completing all of the work (the midterm, the final, and the required paper).

Readings

I. The Context of Latin American Politics:

Perspectives on Latin American Politics

Vanden and Prevost, Introduction and chapter 1and 2

Historical and Contemporary Setting

Vanden and Prevost, chapters 3
Smith, Introduction and Chapters 1, 2, and 3

Economic and Social Structures

a. Ethnicity/Race- Vanden and Prevost, chapter 4
b. Society and Religion - Vanden and Prevost, chapters 5 and 6
c. Political Economy - Vanden and Prevost, chapter 7
                                        Smith, Chapter 4
Political Processes

Vanden and Prevost, chapters 8 and 9
Smith, Part II (Chapters 5, 6, and 7)
*Jorge Nef, "The Politics of Insecurity"

*Carlos M. Vilas, "Inequality and the Dismantling of Citizenship in Latin Latin America"

II. The Legacies of Revolutions
Introduction: Revolutions in Latin America
Vanden and Prevost, chapter 10

Mexico: A Frozen Revolution

Vanden and Prevost, chapter 11 (Mexico)
*Jose M. Vadi, "Economic Globalization, Class Struggle, and the Mexican State"
Mexico After Salinas (The Zedillo and Fox Periods)
Video, "Continent on the Move: Migration and Urbanization (Mexico)"

Cuba: Socialist Development and Decline

Vanden and Prevost, chapter 13
*Gerardo Otero and Janice O'Bryan, " Cuba in Transition? Society's Challenge to the Castro Regime,"
Latin American Politics and Society, Winter 2002, p. 29-57

Central America

Vanden and Prevost, chapter 19 (Nicaragua) and chapter 11 (Guatemala)
Video, "Fire in the Mind: Revolutions and Revolutionaries"

III. Democratic Transitions in South America?

Brazil:

Vanden and Prevost, chapter 14 (by Chafee on Brazil). Supplementary article to be announced.
Video, "Capital Sins: Authoritarianism and Democratization"

2. The Andean Region: Venezuela and Colombia
Vanden and Prevost, chapters 17 (Venezuela) and 18 (Colombia)

Justin Podur and C.P. Pandya, "Colombia and Venezuela: A Clash of Two Models"
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5988

Stephen Lendman, "Venezuela's Bolivarian Movement"

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=9462

Lee Hudson Teslik, "Background Q & A: Colombia's Elections"

http://www.americas.org/item_26773

Garry Leach, "Fifty Years of Violence" (Colombia) http://www.colombiajournal.org/fiftyyearsofviolence.htm

3. Chile and Argentina

Vanden and Prevost chapter 16 (Chile)
Vanden and Prevost, chapter 15 ((Argentina)
      *Jose M. Vadi, "Globalization, Political Opposition, and the State: Argentina in the Menem Era”

IV. Democracy and the State in Latin America

Smith,Part III (Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11)

V. Conclusion: The Future of Latin America: Is Latin American "Democracy" Sustainable?

Smith, Chapter 12 and Epilogue

Guidelines for Term Paper

Your paper must examine either (1) politics in a specific country or (2) a topic or issue that cuts across various countries or all countries of the region.

1. For the paper, answer the following questions in the order presented below. If you opt to examine a political system, your focus should be on the workings of that system since 1990.

a. What are the key characteristics of the political system that you are reviewing? This means, describe the structure of power, who exercises power, and how widely is power distributed. What are the qualities of elections? What are the key political parties and what interests do they represent. This involves more than a description of the governmental structure taken out of an encyclopedia (avoid encyclopedias. Wikipedia is not acceptable as a scholarly source).

b. What are the three most pressing issues affecting that country since 1990 and how are these issues being addressed by those exercising power?
c. How does the political system that you are studying illustrate general features of Latin American politics and in what ways is that system unique?
d. Where is that political system heading over the next decade? Will it be stable and will it be democratic? Will it be able to deal successfully with the key problems that it confronts?

2. You might also select a specific topic or issue (such as political mobilization of indigenous groups, mobilization of the poor, the shifting fortunes of political parties, environmental politics, the effects of globalization, The political Left, the Political Right, the Church and politics, politics and the drug trade, political violence and conflict ) covering the entire region or in a specific country.
a. Describe the issue and what thesis or argument you are making regarding that issue.
b. Who are the key players in the politics surrounding this issue? What are their interests and what are their political resources?
c. What have been the most significant developments regarding this issue or problem over the last decade?
d. What developments do you see regarding this issue or problem over the next ten years?
e. What does this issue and the ways it has been addressed reveal about the country or countries that you have been analyzing? What have you learned about Latin American politics from this research?

You should have a minimum of ten sources and no more than one-third (3) of these sources should be from the Internet. Sources cited should not be from the required reading for the course (although you may refer to class readings for background). Please do not rehash class lectures in your paper. The paper should be of a minimal length of 12 pages (one inch margins) not including bibliography and/or endnotes.

On the fourth and eighth weeks, you are required to arrange for an office hour visit to describe your progress in the term paper and what problems you are encountering.

Useful journals include: Journal of Inter-American Studies and World Affairs (now titled Latin American Politics and Society); Journal of Latin American Studies; Latin American Research Review; Journal of Inter-American Economic Affairs ; NACLA (North American Council on Latin America) Report on the Americas; Latin American Perspectives; Third World Quarterly; Foreign Affairs; Foreign Policy; Current History (especially February or March edition each year which is usually dedicated to Latin America); Journal of Democracy. Since your texts have been published recently, you might look through the bibliography and sources cited in the text to get an initial start on your research.

If you need assistance on how to write a paper and how to do research, see Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers.
For help in writing, in addition to Turabian, you might want to consult Strunk and White, The Elements of Style. This last book might be available "online." I will arrange an office hour to show the class how to access databases available online through the Cal Poly Library.

USEFUL WEBSITE LINKS
For most complete website on Latin America http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/
A slash after la and the name of a country, it leads to sites on that country. For example, the address http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/mexico/ gives sites on Mexico.

For a quick overview of current developments in Latin American countries, see www.americas.org
You may also consult www.zmag.org or www.wola.org

For U.S. State Dept. policy toward the Western Hemisphere and toward specific countries go to http://www.state.gov/www/regions/wha/index.html

Two interesting websites on Mexico are the site for the Zapatistas that is available in English <http://www.ezln.org/fzln/index.html> and the site for the leading Mexican intellectual journal Proceso (in Spanish) <http://www.proceso.com.mx>

Links on Cuba-
State Dept. <http://www.state.gov/www/regions/wha/us_cuba_index.html>
Cuban govt. site <http://www.cubaweb.cu>
Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) <http://www.canfnet.org/>
Washington Post <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/worldref/country/cuba.htm>
Miami Herald <http://www.herald.com/americas/carib/cuba>
Best Link <http://www.laker.net/nike/megalinks.html>
Other links:
http://www.unipr.it/~davide/cuba/home.html
http://www.netpoint.net:80/~cubanet

Colombia-
http://www.colombiajournal.org/fiftyyearsofviolence.htm
http://www.colombiajournal.org
http://mamacoca.org/index_en.htm

For further links on Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela also go to http://www.zmag.org/Zbios.htm
_________________________________________________________________________

THE CLASS MEETS ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS FROM 3 TO 4:50 PM IN ROOM 5-240.

OFFICE HOURS- You are welcome to come during any office hour to discuss readings, lectures, your research or events in Latin America. You do not need an appointment but I would appreciate it if you come to discuss some aspect of the class and not use office hours for general chats that have nothing to do with the class.

Tuesdays & Thursdays...................... 2 to 3 pm

Location: Building 94, Room 312
Telephone: 909-869-3881 (I prefer e-mail)
E-mail: jmvadi@csupomona.edu
Website: http://www.csupomona.edu/~jmvadi